Bootstrapped but profitable now, SGeBiz finally ready for VC-funded growth

FOR three years, Singapore E-Business (SGeBiz) founders Edmund Nathan and Ernie Heng did not draw a salary. They struggled to provide for their families, and in the darkest of days the company had just S$5 in the bank.

The persistence is paying off. After five bootstrapped years, the one-stop electronic procurement-to-payment platform for both retail and food and beverage businesses is profitable. The company is now in advanced stages for its first major external fund-raising round from prominent venture capitalists to expand into South-east Asia. The amount of capital it is aiming for would be comparable to a Series B round.

"Bootstrapping gave us the freedom to make our own choices. To fall, learn from our mistakes and rise again," said chief commercial officer Benjamin Tay. "But …